Assembly Bill 191, which would establish collective bargaining for NSHE professionals in state law, is making steady progress through the 83rd session of the Nevada Legislature. Following the first hearing in the Assembly's Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday, March 4th, the bill will advance through a series of hearings before reaching the full Assembly.

With only slight updates, this measure is similar to AB224, the bill that passed with bipartisan support during the previous legislative session but was vetoed by the Governor at the end of the session in 2023. As with the previous session, this bill would codify the right of NSHE faculty (and graduate students) to collectively bargain, as well as provide us with access to resources like the Employee-Management Relations Board (EMRB) that other public employees, including classified staff at NSHE, enjoy.

NFA representatives, working with the bill sponsor, Assemblymember Natha Anderson, see this as a necessary step to ensure that NSHE faculty have a shared foundation and guarantee for what we can start to negotiate in collective bargaining. For institutions that already have collective bargaining agreements, passing this bill means that the next time they negotiate a new contract, they’ll be able to include a step to resolve grievance appeals through arbitration. The EMRB will also be available to resolve contract disputes. Faculty at institutions that don't already engage in collective bargaining will have a well-defined process if they choose to organize into a bargaining unit in the future.

In advocating for this bill again this session, NFA officers emphasize that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions, and that faculty, administrators, and students all benefit when faculty have an effective say in the policies and processes that guide our important educational work:

• Having mutually agreed upon rules and expectations between faculty and management means better faculty retention;
• Retention contributes to higher quality of education and focus on our students;
• Faculty ability to speak for and advocate for ourselves and students without fear of retaliation;
• Clear and consistent policies mean conflicts can be addressed efficiently and fairly–letting us focus our resources on education and research and not on navigating workplace grievances.

The Nevada Graduate Student Workers/UAW, who have organized graduate student assistants at UNR, UNLV, and DRI, have joined NFA's efforts. They’ve been part of updates to the bill, ensuring that graduate students employed by NSHE can form communities of interests for the sake of collective bargaining. Currently, the Board of Regents policy that allows collective bargaining–not substantially updated since 1990–does not include graduate students at all.

NFA's AB 191 Fact Sheet describes the provisions of the bill.

We encourage NFA members to reach out to their Assemblymember or Senator to let them know you are in support of AB 191.